John Feehery: Speaking Engagements

Snow In December

Posted on December 13, 2010

Every year, somewhere in the United States, it snows in December. Sometimes it snows in November. Sometimes it snows in October. But it always snows in December.

And every year, the collective reaction of most Americans is shock.

The weathermen all warn that the snow is coming. The snow is coming.

And every year, all hell breaks loose when it snows.

But this shouldn’t surprise anybody. It snows in December. It gets cold in December. That is what December is supposed to be about.

Snow in December is like bankruptcy when you can’t pay your bills.

When you spend too much money and you don’t have enough money to pay your bills, you go bankrupt. This shouldn’t surprise anybody. That is what happens.

The American people seem surprised, especially at the local level, that their states and cities are going bankrupt. Well, they have gotten themselves in a box. They have kept spending on auto-pilot, mostly through the costs of health care and pensions, and they haven’t figured out a way to keep taxes rising on auto-pilot.

People are happy to continue to get more benefits but they don’t want to get more taxes. California, Illinois, and Florida are just a few of our more illustrious states that are set to go bankrupt because they can’t bring in as much money as they spend.

Some things in life are unexpected. Getting snow is May is unexpected. Getting 80 degree days in Chicago in January is unexpected. Balancing the budget without cutting spending is unexpected.

But those things don’t happen very often.

Snow is December is a pretty regular occurrence. And getting in trouble if you can’t pay your bills is just plain common-sense.